Angel Hernandez, whose accuracy rate (92.4 percent) ranks 89th out of 99 MLB umpires this season, has been a godsend for us here at Audacy Sports, generating viral content on a near-weekly basis with his inexplicable gaffes and ornery, bordering on defiant plate demeanor, embracing his heel status by daring confrontation from aggrieved players and managers. As he tends to be, Hernandez made himself the center of attention Sunday in New York, this time by hurling himself over a dugout rail to confirm a catch made by Yankees third baseman Gio Urshela.
Given the stakes—the Bombers needed a win to secure their spot in Tuesday’s Wild Card Game against the hated Red Sox—Urshela’s incredible catch, spanning 126 dramatic feet to rob Austin Meadows in foul ground, may go down as one of the most heroic plays in Yankees history, rivaling a similarly miraculous display by Derek Jeter in 2004.
While Urshela was rightfully celebrated for sacrificing his body in a game the Yankees would eventually win 1-0, Hernandez was mocked for his clumsiness, drawing unflattering comparisons to the famous “hardcore parkour” cold open from The Office.
It’s unfair to expect a 60-year-old umpire to exhibit the same gracefulness of a Gold Glove-caliber infielder in his athletic prime, but that knowledge doesn’t make Hernandez’s dugout blunder any less entertaining. Props to Gary Sanchez for making sure the reckless ump lived to see another inning.
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